Blueberry Basil Gelato [Recipe]

     
      So I've been gone from the blog for a bit, life's been somewhat hectic, and I was beginning to feel myself getting into a kind of slump. Though, it wasn't the usual sort of slump that I typically find myself falling into; this one has been much more circumstantial, and heavily influenced by factors that are mostly uncontrollable for me. With forces somewhat out of my control, I started finding it more and more difficult to keep up with healthy eating habits. I've never really enjoyed the thought of myself as a perfectionist in any way, but I most definitely like to think that, as a mother, I'm capable of feeding myself and my child the best I can. I'm absolutely certain that no one likes to think of themselves as sub par, particularly us parents. Not to say that I've been a horrible mother in any way, but times have definitely been tough for me lately, and I've sort of just been trucking through it with all my might. No one's life is perfect all the time, or even most of the time, but I'm not going to quit being me, or doing what I love, and what helps me feel my best, which in turn makes me the best mother that I can be. It's been hard, but I'm still trying.

      Recently I've been focusing on smaller goals. I realized a pattern, that when I attempt to focus on eating as perfectly as I can all of the time, I tend to have much harder falls. Eating to 'perfection' all of the time, while dealing with any kind of illness or even just life's normal daily struggles, can become a fairly daunting task. At least that's what I've found to be true. I've been aware of this issue for quite a while, while almost subconsciously pushing it aside. It's taken me an extremely long time to truly accept this, but in doing so I'm starting to realize that I'm actually a lot more successful at staying balanced, and maintaining a real groove in my lifestyle patterns when I take on a challenge bit by bit. So am I currently eating as well as I'd like to be? No, and everyday is different, but I'm definitely on the right track to getting back into my groove.



      A lot of my time is spent thinking about snacks, not only because I'm just a foodaholic, but also because, as most parents know, it can be tricky getting a toddler to eat a consistently balanced diet. One day my daughter will only want to eat blueberries and avocados, and for a week straight she may be on a never ending quest to load up on carbs. Often times snacks can be the most difficult meals of the day, because almost all snack foods you find in stores are incredibly processed, with lots of additives, preservetives, unhealthy oils, and sugar. It really seems like the only way to provide truly healthy snacks are to make everything from scratch, but not many people have the time for it. There are tons of foods which I do make from scratch, and a lot of them can be really time consuming to make, so when I find something that's not only super tasty, extremely healthy, but incredibly simple to make as well, I know I've got a real keeper.

      It was while we were at the farmers market about two weeks ago, when as we were leaving, one of the vendors offered my daughter a taste of gelato. I asked if she had anything vegan, and she did, it was a sorbet. Blueberry basil sorbet, which I thought seemed like an odd, yet interesting flavor combination. My daughter and I both loved it! A couple of the ingredients were questionable though, and it contained loads of sugar, so it wasn't something I would want us eating regularly. Before we even made it back home my mind was already spinning with ideas on how I could create something similar, but better; something even more like a real gelato, with that same great flavor, only healthier. Bananas seemed to be the logical conclusion. Banana "nice cream" is pretty big right now, and for good reason, it's always delicious. Though I wasn't entirely certain that bananas would work for this, mainly because I really didn't want a strong banana flavor, which you can often get with "nice creams." So I tinkered with the recipe in my head for a bit, then gave it a go, and it was a huge hit the first try! I've made it at least three times in the past two weeks, it's just so yummy, and if my 3 year old loves it too then I'm a really happy camper.

Blueberry Basil Gelato

 

Ingredients (serves 2):

- 2 large ripe Bananas

- about 5 ounces, or one small Mango

- about 1/2 to 3/4 pint fresh Blueberries

- 6 to 10 fresh Basil leaves, depending on how strong of a flavor you like

 

Method:

- First slice your bananas and mango into chunks, place them in ziplock bags and freeze, or you can always use pre-frozen mango like I did.

- Once they're frozen solid you can place them into your food processor, and process until it just begins to start getting creamy. First you'll see it turn into crumbles, and you may need to stop your machine to help press everything down.

 

 

 

 

 

- Once it begins to get creamy you can add your blueberries and basil, and continue processing.

 

 

 

 

- Blend until you've reached your desired consistency, though be careful not to over process it, as it can become too watery. But if that does happen all you have to do is pop your mixture into the freezer for a little while, and it'll get right back to where you want it.

 

 

 







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The Easiest, Most Delicious & Nutritious Ice Cream You'll Ever Make!

Confession time, I have a sweet tooth. A very serious sweet tooth, which has made switching to a whole foods, plant based diet incredibly difficult at times. After years spent eating prepackaged, processed foods (especially faux meat products), microwavable meals, tons of pasta, and store bought condiments & sauces which are all LOADED with large amounts of refined sugar, I developed a very real physical addiction without even realizing it. I eventually began suffering from withdraws where I'd become anxious, and have intense mood swings when my body was craving sugar. Late night 7-11, and supermarket runs became a norm for me, and nights when I couldn't get my fix I'd toss and turn all night until I'd eventually scrounge up a high carb, bread heavy meal to fill the void. Even when I began to find my way into healthy eating I still had cravings, and major setbacks all because I hadn't yet realized that even some of the "healthy" foods I was eating at the time still contained high amounts of sugar.

Well I still get cravings, I'm afraid that won't ever go away, because I really do just love sweets. The difference now is that I don't feel an intense *need* to consume sugar regularly, which means I really get to enjoy the desserts that I make. So here's an incredibly simple dessert that's not only immensely scrumptious, but is jam packed with all kinds of goodness our bodies need to thrive.

Chocolate Almond Crunch Ice Cream

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

-4 Large ripe or overripe Bananas

-4 to 6 Tbsp. raw Cacao powder

-1 Tbsp. raw Honey

-1/2 tsp. Bee Pollen (you can purchase Bee Pollen at most health food stores, or online here, but it's preferable to try and find locally sourced pollen which I buy at our farmers markets.)

-4 Tbsp. raw crunchy Almond Butter

You won't actually taste the bee pollen, but it packs a serious nutritious punch. Bee pollen is made up of about 25% protein, and contains 22 amino acids, 18 vitamins including numerous B vitamins (B12 included), 25 minerals, and 11 enzymes or co-enzymes. It's considered by many to be one of the earth's most perfect foods.

Method:

-Thinly slice your bananas, and place them single layer onto a parchment sheet lined pan, cover with another sheet of parchment paper and place it in the freezer for about 1 hour. IMPORTANT, you want the bananas to be very cold, but not completely frozen solid.

-Place your frozen bananas, honey, bee pollen, and cacao powder into a blender, blend on low speed at first, gradually getting faster as you help to press all of your ingredients down with a tamper.

-Once well blended, scoop into any kind of freezer safe container, I just used one of my glass tupperwear containers. Layer a bit of your ice cream, then swirl some almond butter in, and add more layers until all of your ice cream has been transferred into the freezer safe container.

-Place back into freezer for at least 3 hours, or until your ice cream "sets." Scoop, and serve.

It was late when I made mine, and I didn't want to wait, so I ate mine straight out of the blender, which made the consistency a bit thin. Allowing it to set in the freezer will give you a more solid, ice cream-like consistency. But you will not be able to tell the difference between the consistency of this and regular dairy ice cream, they are wonderfully similar. I scooped half out for myself, and saved the other half in the freezer.